Venkatesh Kulkarni
Encyclopedia
Venkatesh Srinivas Kulkarni (1945 - May 3, 1998) was an American novelist and academic.
, with a master's degree by the age of 19. He studied at Cambridge University, the University of Moscow, the University of Heidelberg, the Sorbonne
and Tulane University
.
He taught creative writing at Rice University
in Houston.
Born to a Kannada father, Gudur Srinivas Rao and a Maharashtrian mother, Shanta Mirajkar and brought up in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in India,Venkatesh demonstrated leadership abilities at a very young age becoming a student leader at Osmania University and then becoming a college lecturer and organizing university educators in India in an organization called the Young Lecturers. Through this organization, he brought together state and national political leaders and industry leaders (such as Birla, Kirloskar and Bajaj) to develop a national consensus on India’s future direction.
He also wanted to make a mark as an intellectual. He wanted to go abroad and establish himself as Gandhi and Nehru had done and then come back to India. The first time in the early 60s, when he was still an undergraduate student. Before he left, he communicated with Chinese national students union wanting to meet with them before he travelled to the U.S. Because India had just been at war with China, his communication was intercepted by the Indian Government and he was denied passport to leave the country. Second time around, he came to the United States around 1969. He wanted to gain recognition as a writer, poet and author like V.S. Naipaul and Tagore.
He was admitted to Harvard but moved to Tulane University in New Orleans to work with Professor Richard Adams, who had done specialized work on Tennessee Williams. While at Tulane, he met Margaret Preston and married her in 1972. They were married for 26 years till his death did them apart. They had 4 children: Srinivas (Sri), Silas (Si), Margaret (Margo) and Krishna (Kris).
Venkatesh and Margaret lived for some years in Louisiana while Margaret studied for MBA while Venkatesh taught at Grambling University in Ruston in Louisiana. During this time, he penned numerous poems, articles and short stories and published them in journals such as Dekalb Review, Whiskey Quarterly, etc. Later, he was on the editorial board of some literary journals. Then, around 1980, they moved to Houston, Texas, she to work for Exxon and he to get down to his passion: writing.
He wrote his first novel, Naked in Deccan which was published in 1983. This novel won the American Book Award given by the Before Columbus Foundation. Naked in Deccan, is a novel of raw energy and probing philosophical intensity, with a humane focus on real Indian people. Deccan is a region in south central India near Hyderabad, partly in what are now the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In his book, Venkatesh describes Deccan as a “landscape lined with strechmarks of fate masquerading as cart-driven paths deeply embedded in the dark earth”. The story is set in the feudal caste system and has no heroes or villains. Human beings demonstrate weaknesses and passions and some demonstrate moral strength and some do not.
In the 90s, Venkatesh taught creative writing at Rice University in Houston which started off as a single class and then grew to intermediate and advanced stages to teach aspiring writers at different levels.
In 1997, he had a late diagnosis of leukemia and despite prolonged treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, died in 1998.
At this time, he had been working on two other books: Allah Baksh - The Man Eaten By God, and The Modern American Apollo.
Venkatesh Kulkarni's students included Kathi Appelt
, Marjorie Meyer Arsht, Christine Carroll, Linda Jacobs, Stan Marshall, Billy Loran Moore, Madeline Maxine Westbrook.
He died after a yearlong battle with leukemia
.
A Teaching Prize has been named for him by Rice University.
His two unfinished works are Allah Baksh - The Man Eaten By God, and the Modern American Apollo. Allah Baksh is the story of an octogenarian peon who would be or rather wanted to be a king of sorts. The second book was about America. The Modern American Apollo is a story of a Greek god-like individual named Apollo, who would rise to wealth and power in this country. He and contemporary America would be met by a Columbus rediscovering America in the 20th and 21st century.
Life
He graduated from Osmania UniversityOsmania University
Osmania University , , since 1918, is a public university located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established and named after the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan. It is one of the oldest modern universities in India. It is the first Indian University to have Urdu and...
, with a master's degree by the age of 19. He studied at Cambridge University, the University of Moscow, the University of Heidelberg, the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
.
He taught creative writing at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
in Houston.
Born to a Kannada father, Gudur Srinivas Rao and a Maharashtrian mother, Shanta Mirajkar and brought up in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in India,Venkatesh demonstrated leadership abilities at a very young age becoming a student leader at Osmania University and then becoming a college lecturer and organizing university educators in India in an organization called the Young Lecturers. Through this organization, he brought together state and national political leaders and industry leaders (such as Birla, Kirloskar and Bajaj) to develop a national consensus on India’s future direction.
He also wanted to make a mark as an intellectual. He wanted to go abroad and establish himself as Gandhi and Nehru had done and then come back to India. The first time in the early 60s, when he was still an undergraduate student. Before he left, he communicated with Chinese national students union wanting to meet with them before he travelled to the U.S. Because India had just been at war with China, his communication was intercepted by the Indian Government and he was denied passport to leave the country. Second time around, he came to the United States around 1969. He wanted to gain recognition as a writer, poet and author like V.S. Naipaul and Tagore.
He was admitted to Harvard but moved to Tulane University in New Orleans to work with Professor Richard Adams, who had done specialized work on Tennessee Williams. While at Tulane, he met Margaret Preston and married her in 1972. They were married for 26 years till his death did them apart. They had 4 children: Srinivas (Sri), Silas (Si), Margaret (Margo) and Krishna (Kris).
Venkatesh and Margaret lived for some years in Louisiana while Margaret studied for MBA while Venkatesh taught at Grambling University in Ruston in Louisiana. During this time, he penned numerous poems, articles and short stories and published them in journals such as Dekalb Review, Whiskey Quarterly, etc. Later, he was on the editorial board of some literary journals. Then, around 1980, they moved to Houston, Texas, she to work for Exxon and he to get down to his passion: writing.
He wrote his first novel, Naked in Deccan which was published in 1983. This novel won the American Book Award given by the Before Columbus Foundation. Naked in Deccan, is a novel of raw energy and probing philosophical intensity, with a humane focus on real Indian people. Deccan is a region in south central India near Hyderabad, partly in what are now the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In his book, Venkatesh describes Deccan as a “landscape lined with strechmarks of fate masquerading as cart-driven paths deeply embedded in the dark earth”. The story is set in the feudal caste system and has no heroes or villains. Human beings demonstrate weaknesses and passions and some demonstrate moral strength and some do not.
In the 90s, Venkatesh taught creative writing at Rice University in Houston which started off as a single class and then grew to intermediate and advanced stages to teach aspiring writers at different levels.
In 1997, he had a late diagnosis of leukemia and despite prolonged treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, died in 1998.
At this time, he had been working on two other books: Allah Baksh - The Man Eaten By God, and The Modern American Apollo.
Venkatesh Kulkarni's students included Kathi Appelt
Kathi Appelt
-Biography:Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University. She and her husband, a researcher in adult literacy at Texas A&M, have two grown sons. She lives in College Station, Texas....
, Marjorie Meyer Arsht, Christine Carroll, Linda Jacobs, Stan Marshall, Billy Loran Moore, Madeline Maxine Westbrook.
He died after a yearlong battle with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
.
A Teaching Prize has been named for him by Rice University.
Works
- Naakt in Dekan. Roman uit India, Bussum/Den Haag, Wereldvenster/Novib. 1985 (Netherlands, Dutch Edition)
- Allah Baksh (incomplete)
- A Modern American Apollo (incomplete)
His two unfinished works are Allah Baksh - The Man Eaten By God, and the Modern American Apollo. Allah Baksh is the story of an octogenarian peon who would be or rather wanted to be a king of sorts. The second book was about America. The Modern American Apollo is a story of a Greek god-like individual named Apollo, who would rise to wealth and power in this country. He and contemporary America would be met by a Columbus rediscovering America in the 20th and 21st century.
Reviews
Instead of a pudgy sheriff we have portly Police Marya, the son of a son of a policeman, who has been intimidating a village in the Deccan desert for generations. Instead of a plucky farm boy hero, we have Thimma, a low-caste Harijan, or untouchable, who succeeds in spite of the odds.....This is a good story about India, and utterly unlike anything else you're likely to find about the subcontinent. Kulkarni writes with a warm humanity and uplifts his characters even as he laughs at them.